Facebook's stablecoin Libra, which was officially announced by the social network on June 18, could face serious problems in Thailand.
According to the local newspaper Bangkok Post, Facebook will have to work hard to introduce Libra in Thailand because the currency cannot be regulated by any of the country's current laws, said Sumaporn Manason, an official in the country's fiscal policy office.
He added:
"The cryptocurrency does not fit under the Bank of Thailand's Currency Act because it does not have the characteristics of legal tender as stipulated by law. These characteristics refer to a banknote or coin having value in baht or being identifiable as an object or note used to pay debts or exchange with other currencies in accordance with the law."
He believes Facebook's cryptocurrency could face 3 different situations:
- An explicit ban introduced by the financial authorities.
- Lack of regulation to promote greater financial inclusion.
- Regulation through an intermediary.
We must not forget that Thailand is not the only country that is showing a skeptical attitude towards the cryptocurrency. The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has asked Facebook and its associates to stop the development of Libra due to the serious consequences it might have.
Yesterday Ihodl reported that the head of Calibra's project, David Marcus, had sent an open letter to U.S. regulators in order to asure that the social network will not have any control over the currency, which is one of the major concerns expressed by regulators all over the world. This is simply due to the fact that Facebook does not have a too good reputation in terms of privacy. This, added to all regulatory challenges the coin might face in different jurisdictions, could hamper its mass adoption.
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